Lampreys are jawless fishes that evolved hundreds of millions of years ago and exhibit multiple and varied life history strategies. Rapid changes in the current climate are clear, and warming temperatures and changes in precipitation patterns over the past several decades are projected to continue into the foreseeable future. The effects of our changing climate may impact lamprey species worldwide in ways already recorded for other taxa including range contractions. In order to manage and conserve the varied native lamprey species and mitigate for the potential impacts from climate change, it is necessary to understand how lampreys and their communities could be affected. We use the potential pathways of community change identified by Hughes (2000) to evaluate whether lampreys and their aquatic and human communities are already being affected by climate change. Evidence supports the likelihood that climate change will affect the physiology and phenology of lampreys as well as their distribution and contributions to communities and ecosystems. However, when considering their length of time on the planet, evolutionary history resulting from that time, multitude of life history expressions and range of distribution, it is possible that lampreys may be relatively resilient to climate change.

七鳃鳗是数亿年前进化的无颌鱼类，具有多种不同的生活史策略。当前气候的快速变化是显而易见的，预计过去几十年气温升高和降水模式的变化将持续到可预见的未来。我们不断变化的气候的影响可能会以已经记录在其他分类群中的方式影响全世界的七鳃鳗物种，包括范围缩小。为了管理和保护各种本地七鳃鳗物种并减轻气候变化的潜在影响，有必要了解七鳃鳗及其社区如何受到影响。我们使用 Hughes (2000) 确定的群落变化的潜在途径来评估七鳃鳗及其水生和人类群落是否已经受到气候变化的影响。证据支持气候变化可能会影响七鳃鳗的生理和物候，以及它们的分布和对社区和生态系统的贡献。然而，考虑到它们在地球上的时间长短、当时的进化史、生活史的多种表现形式和分布范围，七鳃鳗对气候变化的适应能力可能相对较强。